Ideas for a tap lost in the water jacket??

[lnkncontiverto]

I was cleaning up the head bolt holes in the block yesterday when I spun the tap too far and it dropped into the water jacket below. D'oh! You can only imagine the frenzy of expletives that was unleashed in my garage.

Anyone have any ideas on how to get it out? BTW, this is the front driver side cylinder. Inboard bolt hole. Anyone know if there is a large enough passage to get there from popping out a freeze plug? or did I just take a voyage up Sh!t's creek and lose my paddle?

Thanks!

 

[86 TR]

I would think after the freeze plug is out you should be able to get a magnet or a needle nose pliers in there and retreive it.

 

[disco stu]

lolol

Yeah, pop an expansion plug out and try to fish it out. If that's hopeless you might just me leaving that in there. :tongue:

 

[lnkncontiverto]

lolol

Yeah, pop an expansion plug out and try to fish it out. If that's hopeless you might just me leaving that in there. :tongue:

I'm sure that since its a $7 harbor freight chinese tap/die kit, the steel will completely dissolve after a couple of days underwater.

 

[$1987 GN$]

I'm sure that since its a $7 harbor freight chinese tap/die kit, the steel will completely dissolve after a couple of days underwater.

Now that is funny . . .

Depends on if it got bound up in there you may or may not get from the core hole.
I imagine there are some pretty neat toys that you could use to see in there and grab it and get it out.

Later AJ

 

[Phoneguy]

I would try a coat hanger or stiff wire with a magnet taped on it before I popped a freeze plug.

Good luck

Bryan

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Exactly...

I'm sure that since its a $7 harbor freight chinese tap/die kit, the steel will completely dissolve after a couple of days underwater.

leave it alone.
BTW, you do not use a common tap to clean threads. That procedure will remove thread material, and reduce thread engagement.
Use cleaning taps. They are specifically made to clean, not cut...
Summit has them. Not expensive.

 

[SNOWBIRD]

In my dealer days we always knocked the frost plug in when installing block heaters ...I did at least a thousand if not more ..very popular in canada in the seventys

 

[bison]

In my dealer days we always knocked the frost plug in when installing block heaters ...I did at least a thousand if not more ..very popular in canada in the seventys

The 70's must have sucked

 

[pdzz]

the 70's must have sucked

lol!!!!:d

 

[SNOWBIRD]

I was just reflecting on your ( seventys must have sucked) and I can tell you from experience that that if you were not happy working at one dealer all you had to do was phone another and you had another employment,also the techs on the flat rate systems ,,which was everybody in canada to my knowledge were being paid about 15 hours of gain time every week plus his 45 hrs..some more ,like myself.....I AM SURE THE SEVENTYS DONT SOUND TO BAD TO ANY AUTO TECH OUT OF WORK LIKE WE ARE SEEING KNOW

 

[DailyDrifter]

The 70's must have sucked

lol


If it was me I would say "phuck it" and leave it in there

 

[bison]

Really off topic

I was just reflecting on your ( seventys must have sucked) and I can tell you from experience that that if you were not happy working at one dealer all you had to do was phone another and you had another employment,also the techs on the flat rate systems ,,which was everybody in canada to my knowledge were being paid about 15 hours of gain time every week plus his 45 hrs..some more ,like myself.....I AM SURE THE SEVENTYS DONT SOUND TO BAD TO ANY AUTO TECH OUT OF WORK LIKE WE ARE SEEING KNOW

Thats true. There are still some flat rate guys knocking out 60+hrs a week though. Just think about if you worked for Toyota. You could pick up all the OT you want doing recalls :biggrin:. But the 70's still sucked. Look at the clothes people wore and those ugly as hell side burns that covered half the side of their faces. Women werent shaving too much either back then. Id be afraid if i saw a bearded clam:biggrin:.

 

[turbo nasty]

Thats true. There are still some flat rate guys knocking out 60+hrs a week though. Just think about if you worked for Toyota. You could pick up all the OT you want doing recalls :biggrin:. But the 70's still sucked. Look at the clothes people wore and those ugly as hell side burns that covered half the side of their faces. Women werent shaving too much either back then. Id be afraid if i saw a bearded clam:biggrin:.

If Toyota is like Dodge then recalls and warranty is half shop rate

 

[turbo nasty]

Thats true. There are still some flat rate guys knocking out 60+hrs a week though. Just think about if you worked for Toyota. You could pick up all the OT you want doing recalls :biggrin:. But the 70's still sucked. Look at the clothes people wore and those ugly as hell side burns that covered half the side of their faces. Women werent shaving too much either back then. Id be afraid if i saw a bearded clam:biggrin:.

If Toyota is like Dodge then recalls and warranty is half shop rate

To the OP try to get it out

 

[SNOWBIRD]

Lol.

 

[lnkncontiverto]

To the OP try to get it out

Thanks for the tip!

Thanks to everyone on the insight on both freeze plugs and the 70's. I have access to a borescope at work, so I plan on borrowing it this weekend to take a little peek at what's going on in there. My first plan is to snake it out with one of those three pronged grabbers. Next is a magnet on a stick. Next is popping the plug, if the scope shows a large enough path to pull the tap through.

If all else fails, I'll just bore the head bolt hole out to 3/4", turn the block upside down, and give it a little jiggle until the tap falls out.:biggrin:

I let you know how this all shakes out. (Pun intended)

 

[wdunfee]

Try a shop vac..Just saw that on GEARZ..

 

[novaderrik]

is this a bare block on an engine stand? if so, flip the motor over and tap it with a hammer to knock the tap loose. then use a magnet of some sort to fish it over to a bigger hole and get it out.
if it's in the car, just leave it. it won't hurt anything.

 

[lnkncontiverto]

VICTORY!!! I am estatic to announce that the tap is no longer mocking me from inside my water jacket!!

Armed with a borescope, a bucket full of patience, and my trusty neodynium magnet-on-a-stick, I was able to get the tap aligned with the hole and twist it a couple of turns to get it threaded. If my block weren't already on an engine stand that I could rotate, I don't know how I would have gotten it out. Thanks for all the moral support!